Ceremony held for outgoing Sheriff Cavallero

Sheriff Tom Cavallero on Wednesday formally passed command of the Merced County Sheriff’s Department to incoming Sheriff-elect Vern Warnke during a brief Honor Guard ceremony in front of the office he commanded for one year.

Cavallero, 50, received the American flag that flew over the sheriff’s office during his brief tenure as head of the largest law enforcement agency in Merced County. Cavallero’s wife, Wendy, his 15-year-old son, Nathaniel, and 11-year-old daughter, Teresa, were on hand for the formalities.

Warnke officially assumes command Saturday as the 25th sheriff of Merced County.

“This is well-deserved for Sheriff Cavallero,” Warnke said of the ceremony. “I’m looking forward to taking over in his footsteps.”

Cavallero’s brief time as sheriff was marked with a series of significant changes in the department. Cavallero came to office at the end of 2013 when Sheriff Mark Pazin stepped down for a position with the state.

Cavallero acknowledged that some people may have been concerned when he was first came to office that he would struggle to be successful without an elected mandate. However, Cavallero believes his lack of political ambition turned out to be a strength, as he wasn’t constrained by a desire to win an election.

“I didn’t have that pressure and I knew coming in when I was leaving,” he said. “I think it helped everybody focus on just getting the things done that we thought were important and I did have great support from the Board of Supervisors and (County CEO) Jim Brown.”

Over the last year, the department beefed up its commitment to combating street gangs, reopened a major substation in Delhi, eradicated a greater number of marijuana gardens than in years past, opened a new dispatch center, and positioned itself to receive potentially millions of dollars from the state to build a new jail facility.

Security was improved at the the John Latorraca Correctional Facility and escapes from the jail dropped significantly.

There was a deputies-involved shooting of a homicide suspect in May, which remains under investigation. Cavallero was also sheriff when his detectives arrested the Merced County district attorney’s son in connection with a homicide. The case was ultimately lost in court and the fallout created a rift between the district attorney and sheriff’s department that continues.

Overall violent crimes and homicides fell during his one year in office and the department’s success-rate for solving those cases climbed significantly.

The department’s budget increased during the year and, for the first time in many years, the office added 14 new positions.

Typically quick to deflect compliments and share credit, Cavallero on Wednesday praised the commanders, deputies, detectives and correctional officers with whom he’s worked for more than 30 years. “I was very fortunate, honestly, to have so many good people around; so many people that just really work hard and want to do the right things,” Cavallero said.

Cavallero said reopening the sheriff’s substation in Delhi earlier this year was the accomplishment of which he was the most proud. “When it closed around 2009, it was really a heart breaker. The deputies never left, but there was no office for the citizens to go to up there and conduct business,” he said. “Reopening that was about keeping a promise and providing those services that community really deserves and really needs.”

Improving security at the John Latorraca Correctional Facility and helping position the county to hopefully receive the millions needed for a new jail were two more major goals. County officials won’t know until at least some time in February whether the money will actually go through, but Cavallero said he believes the county’s in a “much better position” to receive the badly needed funding than it was in years past. He credited the correctional staff with leading the way on the ongoing funding project.

Cavallero took over the department at the end of one of the most violent years in Merced County’s history, which included a record number of homicides. Additionally, the department was coming off one of its worst years statistically for solving violent crimes and homicides on record. Cavallero during his first few hours in office reshuffled several positions which beefed up patrol, detectives and the county gang unit.

Over 2014, violent crimes and homicides fell slightly within the Sheriff’s Department’s jurisdiction and the department’s solve-rate climbed back above its historically high rate. True to form, Cavallero accepted little credit and deflected the success to commanders, supervisors and the deputies and detectives for making “it all work the way it’s supposed to.”

Cavallero’s time as sheriff was also colored briefly with controversy in May when he was criticized for compiling a report on three private resident who’d been critical in public meetings of the Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff’s Department.

“That was a distraction, but you can’t take a job like this and expect not to have some issues,” he said. “People are entitled to their opinions on that issue like everything else, but for me, when it comes to a choice of being criticized or trying to keep the public safe, I’ll take public safety every time. That kind of criticism just comes with the territory.”

Cavallero will take over his old job as undersheriff, this time as a semi-retired reserve, until some time in the spring and then will likely stay on in lesser reserve capacity.

“It was an honor and it seemed to go by very fast. I’m looking forward to this (next phase) and plan to stick around for as long as Sheriff Warnke needs me,” he said “It’s been a great year, all things considered; a lot of high-profile things happened; some historically significant things. I’m very proud to have been the 24th sheriff in Merced County.”

This story was originally published December 24, 2014 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Ceremony held for outgoing Sheriff Cavallero."